


Rebellious Spirit

by Username8746489



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Gen, Lila Rossi Bashing, Persona 5 Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Username8746489/pseuds/Username8746489
Summary: When Marinette had been sassing one of her classmates outside her school, she wasn't expecting to be brought to...wherever this place was.Although, she may soon learn to enjoy this other world.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 17
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda rewrite of "Awakenings" but I'm actually writing it as a story instead of vaguely connected oneshots

Marinette wasn't sure if she liked school anymore.

Lila had taken over the class with her web of lies. Marinette was one of her believers at first, before Jagged Stone told Marinette the truth while they were discussing commissions.

While trying to get the class to realize she was lying, Lila had turned the tables, making Marinette out to be a jealous rat. Adrien was also not impressed with Lila, even before her lies were revealed. He didn't like how she hung off him all the time. (Marinette had to sit him down and explain what she was doing was sexual harassment.) 

Adrien believed the lies were harmless until Lila told a lie about his mom, an actress who died in a tragic car accident. That brought him over to Marinette's side pretty quickly. Lila had convinced the others that he was being blackmailed by Marinette though.

She mulled over the entire situation whilst walking to their meet up area. They agreed it probably wasn’t safe for Marinette to walk to school alone with the ‘justice’ the class was providing. So now, she had trained herself to wake up early and walk over to a spot where they met each other halfway. 

She stood there waiting for the blonde, who showed up quickly. 

“Morning!” He greeted. Marinette waved. The two of them started walking to school.

Whilst on the way there, Marinette’s phone got a notification. She gazed at it, before groaning.

“Who is it this time?” Adrien asked.

“Alya telling me how I shouldn’t bully Lila and that we’d be really good friends if I got over myself,” Marinette sighed, “They still think I’m jealous she knows celebrities and I don’t.”

Adrien scoffed, “That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Right?!”

Adrien hummed, “I really don’t like Lila. She thinks she’s so high and mighty. One day, her lies will come crashing down.”

Marinette nodded, agreeing, “She’s all like ‘Oh, look at me! I’m Lila Rossi! Queen of the castle called  Collège Françoise Dupont!’”

The two teens giggled at the prospect.

Their laughter stopped when they arrived at a castle instead of the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short introductory chapter! Chapters will probably get longer as this goes on


	2. Chapter 2

“W-What is this place?” Marinette gasped. Adrien looked around.

“T-This is where the school is! Why is there a castle?” 

“Should we go inside? Maybe there are answers!” 

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The two teens walked through the front gate, before cautiously pushing open the front door. They walked into what seemed to be the main hall of the castle. There were spiral staircases leading up to a ledge on the next floor. A painting of a girl who looked suspiciously familiar was also hung on the wall. She seemed to be wearing a beautiful orange dress.

“How did they build this in the fifteen minutes I took to get you and come back?” Marinette muttered.

“Who’re you?” A voice echoed from above. Marinette and Adrien looked up. There were guards walking down the stairs towards them. 

“Um, we just came here for school,” Adrien tried explaining.

“Adrien!” The voice shouted again, the owner walking into sight, “What’re you doing in the main hall?”

“L-Lila?!” 

Lila stood there, seeming exactly like the girl in the picture, holding what seemed to be a whip in her hand, “...You aren’t my Adrien! An impostor! Get him and the slave!”

“Slave?” Marinette asked as the guards closed in. Her breath caught in her throat seeing a picture perfect clone of her standing behind Lila, skin seemingly covered in long red marks.

The armored knights grabbed Marinette and Adrien, knocking them out with a blow to the head.

\---

Marinette awoke to Adrien shaking her, in a panicked state, “Marinette, are you okay?!”

She got up from the boxes she was laying on, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine. What about you?”

“I am too,” He glanced around, “Where are we?”

She sneaked a look behind him. Marinette stood up, brushing past Adrien and walking towards the bars that held them in, “Are we in a jail cell?”

Adrien ran up, “LILA, LET US OUT OF HERE! THIS ISN’T FUNNY!”

Speaking of the devil, Lila, or what seemed to be her, walked up with some guards trailing behind her. She didn’t seem to have the whip or the Marinette clone.

“How dare you try to impersonate my Adrien?! The punishment for that is death!”

“Impersonate?! I _am_ Adrien!” Adrien protested. Three guards entered the cell, bouncing their swords in their hands.

“Kill him!” Lila screeched.

“No!” Marinette grabbed a nearby empty box and threw it at the guards. It hit one in the chest before bouncing off harmlessly.

“You dare stand in Queen Lila’s way?” The guard roared, pinning Marinette’s body to the wall with its sword. Another guard mirrored him, while the last one shoved Adrien down to the box, bending his head over the edge. It looked reminiscent of an old school beheading. 

...Wait.

The guard raised his sword, about to cut down on a struggling Adrien’s neck.

“No!” Marinette screamed, struggling in the guards’ hold.

Lila held out her hand to stop the guard, “If you insist on going first, we shall grant that wish.”

The designer trembled as the guard started walking towards her.

Lila clapped her hands, “Actually! Let’s do a double execution. That’ll be way more fun!”

The guard walking towards her turned back to Adrien, returning to the previous position.

One of the knights holding her backed up, stretching their arm before also raising their sword.

Her vision grew darker, casting the world in a dark shadow. Vaguely, she noticed a blue turtle crawling across the floor.

She didn’t want her or Adrien to die! 

What could she do?

_My, my, what an unfortunate situation you’re in._

A male voice? Where was that coming from?

_Would you allow me to help remedy it?_

Her world flashed back to color. 

_What are you going to do?_

Marinette gasped. 

A woman’s voice? What happened to the first one?

_You and your friend are going to die._

_Is that what you want?_

“N-No,” She whispered out.

Lila turned to her, “Hm?”

The voice giggled.

_Allow me to assist you then._

Marinette cried out as a spike of pain shot through her head. She struggled against the hold she was in, thrashing around to alleviate her agony.

Multiple gasps escaped her mouth.

The guard above Adrien paused, staring at Marinette. The blonde boy took this opportunity to escape, using the disruption. He wiggled his way out from under the metal hand holding him. 

Adrien’s freedom didn’t last long though, as the guard kicked him against the wall, knocking the breath out of him. He held Adrien up to the wall, raising the sword.

_I am thou, thou art I._

_Let me be your power._

_Use the flames of rebellion to create a new future for yourself!_

A few tears slipped out of Marinette’s eyes from the overwhelming torture. 

Lila huffed, not paying any attention to the suffering girl, “You fight so much. Kill them!”

“That’s enough!” Marinette shouted in Lila’s direction.

“What?” The queen turned towards her prisoner, “You think you have a choice?! How dare you speak up against your queen?”

The guard brought his sword down.

Marinette’s eyes shot open.

A burst of wind spread around her body, knocking back all the guards, including the one holding Adrien. The model fell to the ground.

“M-Marinette?!”

The girl in question looked up, a red mask with 5 black spots on her face. It extended outwards in two semicircle-like shapes, like if he were looking down at a ladybug’s wings.

She raised a hand up to touch the mask, before letting her other hand join grasping it tightly and leaning down, tugging at it. Her screams raised in volume as she tore it piece by piece off her face, more likely than not tearing off her skin as well.

That theory was confirmed as Marinette’s head lifted, staring Adrien in the eyes, blood dripping down her face. She smiled gleefully as fire appeared, evaporating the blood off her face, before the flames consumed her. They spun around in a column, knocking back all three guards. 

The fire rose off of Marinette, leaving her standing there in a red cheongsam over a white shirt with bishop sleeves, brown pants, and ankle boots. She had a belt made of a thin black rope connected to a flat, red, circular shape with black dots on her hip. The fire curled into itself before forming into a pink creature with a round head attached to a smaller body. It had two antennae and a black dot in the center of its head.

Lila shrieked and ran away.

Marinette chuckled, “Thank you for assisting me, Tikki.”

Adrien could only whisper one thing.

“Whoa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!!! It's not a trickster, but a kwami!!
> 
> The reason being it's easier for me to write this since I'm not that deep into mythological lore.


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette looked down at herself, “Eh?” When did she change into these clothes?

Adrien scrambled off the floor, running up to Marinette, “How did you do that?!”

“I-I don’t know?”

The creature giggled, “I am Tikki, your rebellious spirit in a physical form. If you find yourself lucky enough, I will grant you the power to get out of your crisis.”

Lila quickly pulled herself off the ground near the doors, “W-Who do you think you are?! Guards, destroy her!” The guards that were slumped over gathered themselves. They stood in front of Lila, bending over backwards and exploding into a light show of red and black. Two pink haired girls wearing black suits with flared shorts appeared in the aftermath. Their skin was green and a long black string flowed down their buns.

Marinette quickly shoved Adrien back, intent to protect him from the danger.

“You won’t escape here alive!” Lila snarled.

“That hatred towards those enemies in front of you?” Tikki instructed, floating behind her, “Turn it into power! Toss those enemies into the void!”

It felt almost natural the way she unleashed her attack. 

“Kouha!”

One of the girls recoiled from the attack. It seemed she had taken a great amount of damage from it. Marinette felt a vague tiredness. It wasn’t very much, but she could tell she lost some energy with that. The girls retaliated, swinging a pink gun in their hands to hit Marinette. She grunted with each attack.

“Use your weapon!” Tikki encouraged.

Marinette looked down at herself. Weapon? Was it the circle on her waist?

She gathered it in her hand. It split into two halves, separating a small distance apart. With an instinct that wasn’t there before, Marinette started spinning the object with the string attached to the center. 

“My weapon is a yo-yo?” She thought aloud, exasperated.

“Give it a try!” Tikki cheered.

Marinette bit her lip. 

_ If she insists... _

Marinette glanced up, throwing the yo-yo at the injured girl. A yo-yo master must’ve possessed her, because it seemed to bend in just the right way to wrap itself around the creature’s neck. Marinette whipped her yo-yo down, as though she had done this a thousand times, the end wrapped around the girl slicing down through her neck, killing it with a black mist.

Adrien cheered for her behind her back.

“Now continue!” Tikki said. 

With another Kouha, the other girl was promptly killed. 

Marinette turned to Adrien, the mask flashing back onto her face. Tikki disappeared behind her.

“M-Marinette!” Adrien rushed up, “That was so cool! What was that?”

Lila growled, storming up to them, “You bitch!” 

Adrien reacted first, slamming his body into her, knocking her down to the floor, “You have no right to talk about who’s a bitch and not, _bitch_!” The word felt foreign coming out of the sunshine boy’s mouth. 

“Get her keys!” Marinette quickly instructed, “We can lock the cell!” Adrien followed the direction, snatching them off the floor from where they fell off the queen.

The two rushed out of the cell, Adrien locking it behind him. Lila stood up, throwing her full weight against the cell door as she grasped the bars.

“You won’t get away with this!” She screeched.

Adrien ignored her, “How’d you do that?! And when did your clothes change?”

As Marinette looked down at herself again, a flash of blue fire spread around her. After the short moment, she was back in her original clothes.

“Oh, they’re back!”

Lila screamed, like a feral animal, “Stop ignoring me!” 

The two flinched back.

“Uh, let’s get out of here.”

“Agreed.” 

They traveled away from the raging Lila, traveling next to the river that ran through the area of the castle they were in. The walls and floor seemed to be made of dirt, and there were a large amount of iron bars blocking pathways and crates everywhere. Marinette seemed to be good at finding ways to move on even when they were at a dead end, although that was mostly her jumping over some items in the river and helping Adrien cross them as well. (One special occurrence was them going through a hole in one of the unlocked cells’ walls to bypass a locked door.)

After ducking behind some boxes, they heard some guards head to where Lila was locked up.

“Ah, we really need to get out of here before she gets free,” Marinette stated.

To their left was a staircase that headed upwards. After heading up, they were in a more elegantly decorated hallway. The main colors used looked to be some variant of orange. Adrien pointed down the hallway, “Look, there’s the entrance! Let’s get out of here!”

As they dashed down the hallway to the exit, some guards came down the stairs. 

Marinette cursed as they slid to a stop. Looking to the side, she saw a door. She quickly grabbed Adrien by his shirt and dragged him inside, shutting the door behind them.

They took a quick breather inside the room.

“Ah, that was too close,” Marinette sighed, slumping over. Adrien looked around for an exit. After all, it was only a short amount of time before they would find them.

“Marinette, there’s a vent!” He pointed at a vent that seemed large enough for a person to crawl through on the top of some bookshelves. He used his arms to pull himself up before helping Marinette accomplish the same. They threw the vent cover off before climbing through.

Luckily for them, it led to the outside. 

Adrien repeatedly muttered the word “go” under his breath as he grabbed Marinette’s hand, rushing past the gate of the castle. He dragged her into an alleyway. 

Both of them flinched as they felt a feeling they felt before arriving at the school. Peeking out from the alley, they saw the school was back to being a school.

“H-Huh?!” 

Adrien checked his phone, “Oh boy, it’s after school.”

Marinette shrieked, “We have to tell someone!” 

They rushed into the building. The class looked up from where they were surrounding Lila near the staircase. 

“Girl, where have you been?” Alya asked, “You two haven’t shown up all day!”

“T-The castle?” Marinette stuttered, “The school was replaced with a castle! Adrien, back me up!”

“Yeah, we got captured and everything!” He added.

“I..think you two hit your head on something,” Alya raised an eyebrow.

Adrien and Marinette turned to Lila. Surely, she’d remember!

“Li-”

Adrien quickly intercepted Marinette’s accusation. He had seen faux innocent eyes before, what with his profession and fangirls. Lila genuinely didn’t know what was going on.

“Hey, Mari, let’s talk at your house.” He led the girl out the door and all the way back into her room.

“What the  _ heck  _ was all that?!” Marinette cried out. 

“I-I don’t know,” Adrien muttered, opening a window, “I need fresh air.”

A ladybug flew through the window landing on Marinette’s desk. They paid it no mind.

“Marinette! Adrien!” They both jolted, turning to the ladybug.

“Okay, yeah, we’re having a joint hallucination,” Marinette said in disbelief, “That ladybug has the same voice as that blob thing that I summoned.”

“Hey, my name is Tikki!”

“Pinch me, I need you to pinch me,” Adrien shook Marinette.

“You’re not hallucinating! And I can explain the castle too!”

“Well, then, do it!”

“You were inside the metaverse.”

“The what?”

“A place where people’s desires can form into physical manifestations if distorted enough. For example, that girl, Lila Rossi, views the school as her castle where she rules as the queen. Those manifestations are called palaces.”

“O-Okay,” Marinette bit her lip, recognizing some of the words from their conversation that morning. It seemed so far back in the past. “How did we get in?”

“The Metanav. It’s an app on your phone. You say a name, the place of their distortion, and what they view it as.”

“But we didn’t use anything,” Adrien questioned, “We were just joking about her before entering.”

Marinette pulled out her phone, making a shocked noise. She showed Adrien an app on her phone with a red background and a black eye, “I didn’t have this before!” Adrien quickly brought out his own phone, finding the app downloaded as well.

“Can we...help Lila?” Adrien asked cautiously, “Like help her become a better person.”

“You need to steal her treasure.” 

“Treasure?”

“The source of her desires. What started it all. It’s hidden somewhere in the palace.”

“So we have to go back in there,” Marinette deduced.

“Yep!”

“Do you have enough free time for that?” Marinette turned to Adrien, “I can go by myself-”

“You’re not going in there by yourself!” Adrien quickly countered, “I have an idea. Grab your sketchbook.”

\---

Marinette trembled outside the Agreste mansion, “A-Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Adrien walked the two inside the mansion and into his dad’s office. Marinette took a silent morbid note of the painting of his dead wife hanging behind him.

“I did not allow you to bring a friend over,” Gabriel looked up, annoyed.

“I’d like to start modelling exclusively for her.”

Gabriel froze, looking up. Marinette also looked at him, panicked.

“That was a deal we had at the beginning of my career. If I found one fashion designer I really liked, I’d model for them and only them.”

“Ah, I’d assume that would be my company.”

Adrien nudged the hand in which she was holding her sketchbook. She awkwardly handed over the sketchbook.

“I just wanted to say that I’m a really big fan and you’re one of my biggest inspirations!”

Gabriel paid no mind to her, looking over the sketchbook.

“Very well,” Adrien brightened at the words, “I shall allow you to model for her.” Gabriel turned to Marinette, “You are a very talented designer.”

Marinette beamed at the compliment, “Thank you, sir!”

“Would you like to join my company as a paid intern?”

Marinette’s smile grew stronger, “Of course! It’d be an honor!”

Gabriel shook her hand, handing her her sketchbook back, “Welcome to the company. I know you’ll do great things.”

Adrien and Marinette left the room. Once outside, Marinette started bouncing in place, “Adrien, I’m an intern at  _ Gabriel  _ !” 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less!” Adrien praised, “You’re an amazing designer.” His voice lowered, “And now we can explore the palace.”

She nodded, “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Tikki is the mentor character. No, a character like Morgana will not be appearing
> 
> Adrien's model contract thingy is plot convenience but it's fine-
> 
> And the shadows in this chapter are Princess Fragrance (I'm doing akumas instead of mythological figures for shadows/personas bc as stated in last chapter's notes, I'm not that deep into mythology)


	4. Chapter 4

After the day she had lived through, Marinette really wanted to just collapse into her bed and fall asleep. She held out until her homework was finished before doing the deed.

When her eyes opened again, she wasn’t in her room. The girl jolted upwards. 

Was she in another… palace as Tikki called them?

Marinette glanced down to see if she would be wearing the same outfit. Instead, she saw herself dressed in a black and white prison outfit. Looking around, Marinette deduced she was in a jail cell. She turned to the right to see an old man sitting at a desk.

“Greetings, wild card.”

Marinette stood up, being momentarily stopped by a chain on her foot. She managed to scoot her body to the cell door.

“Wild card? Who are you?”

The man smiled, “I apologize. I haven’t even introduced myself. I am Master Fu.” He smiled, “You have been set on a journey. You are steadily approaching ruin.”

“R-Ruin?”

“If all goes well, you shall not face this fate. As of now though, I do not have high hopes,” Fu tilted his head, “Don't you know all of humanity is riding on your shoulders?”

She flinched, “M-Me?!”

Fu laughed, “I jest.”

Marinette bit her lip, “Are you the reason for the magic stuff happening?”

“They’ve always been there. You’ve only just awakened to it.”

“If I’m here, is Adrien gonna appear too?” She looked around the circular room, spotting the other cells. Seven of them in total, not including her own. 

Fu laughed, “Unfortunately not. You’re quite special.”

The words unsettled Marinette.

“You are a wild card.” With Marinette’s confused look, he elaborated. “A persona user with a unique ability. You can wield multiple personas.”

She perked up at this, “I can?”

Fu nodded, “It seems you are waking up. I hope you’ll come back again. I’ll see you again one day.”

With those words, Marinette’s eyes shot open. She sat up, glancing around. She was back in her room.

With a quick glance at her clock, she realized she only had fifteen minutes to get ready for school. After a hurried routine, she rushed out the door, taking a croissant for a quick breakfast. Her parents sighed fondly, used to the act.

Marinette didn’t want to be late for school today. After all, she had those plans with Adrien afterward. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter sorry yall ://
> 
> Fu becomes Igor because idk don't question me-


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette and Adrien yet again stood in the alley by the school. Tikki sat on Marinette’s shoulder.

“So, we just go in, right?” Marinette asked, pulling out her phone. “Do I go onto the app?” 

Adrien pulled out his own phone, “I think so. Oh, hey! There’s a search history!” He clicked on the latest destination.

“Lila Rossi, Collège Françoise Dupont, Castle.” The app droned, “Beginning navigation.”

“Oh, there we go!” Adrien cheered as the world around them shifted. When their vision stopped spinning, they stepped out the alleyway. “Hey, your clothes!”

Marinette glanced down at her body, noting she was dressed in the same garments as when she got Tikki, including the mask on her face.

“That’s weird,” She muttered.

Tikki responded in her head, “It’s because Lila perceives you as a threat now.”

Marinette frowned at that new piece of information.

She looked up at Adrien, “What should we do?”

“I’m not sure we’d be able to find the treasure without a map,” He mused, “Let’s try to find our classmates in here. Maybe some will say they know about her lies too and help us in the real world!”

Marinette nodded, “Let’s go!”

Adrien beamed, “Okay, Marinette!” His face fell, “Wait, is it safe to say your real name in here? What effects could it have in the real world?”

The girl bit her lip. He was right. “What if we used code names?”

The boy perked up, “Oh, that sounds cool! What’re you gonna be called?”

Marinette pointed to her mask, “Um, this looks like a Ladybug’s wings, right? Call me Ladybug!”

“Alright then, Ladybug! Let’s get started!”

They crept towards the edge of the castle’s gate, stopping behind a few stacks of boxes. A red haired boy stood outside, doodling absentmindedly on a sheet of paper.

“Nathaniel?” Ladybug muttered, confused.

“He’s not the real one,” Tikki explained, “That’s Lila’s cognition of him.”

Adrien stood up, “Let me talk to him. You look kinda suspicious, no offense.” Marinette nodded in understanding. The model walked up to the false artist, “Hey!”

He looked up, “Hi, Adrien.”

“What’s your opinion of Lila?”

“The queen?” Nathaniel smiled, “She’s amazing, isn’t she? I don’t think she could do anything wrong.”

Adrien winced, “I-I agree.” The artist hummed, looking back down at his artwork. Adrien quickly retreated to Ladybug, “So he doesn’t know anything.”

“Is there any way to get past him without him seeing us?” Marinette questioned. She leaned forward on the boxes they were hiding behind. A lightbulb went off in her head. She started climbing up onto them. Adrien caught on almost immediately, following after her.

The top of the boxes allowed them to jump over the wall. Ladybug landed on the ground gracefully. Adrien, who didn’t quite have the magic of the metaverse on his side yet, fumbled over the wall. He yelped as he fell. Ladybug reacted immediately, catching him in her arms.

She wondered why his face was turning red.

“Are you sick? You shouldn’t come if you’re not feeling well.”

“I’m fine!” Adrien reassured, rolling out of her arms and standing up, “Let’s keep going!”

While getting closer to the castle, they noticed some of their more peaceful classmates wandering around the courtyard, namely Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Sabrina, and Max. They entered the castle again through the vent they used to escape last time. They quietly snuck out of the room, turning to the right where the main hall was. They saw a group of knights standing there, swords in hand. Each knight took off their helmets, revealing their remaining classmates.

The version of Lila that ruled this place (Her Shadow, Tikki explained in her head) stared, smiling at them standing there. Next to her stood a version of Adrien, who giggled and clung onto her arm. 

Ladybug winced as she was reminded of how Lila clung to Adrien in their world.

The knights started talking amongst themselves.

“Lila is so merciful!”

“I know, she’s such a great queen.”

“I couldn’t ask for anything else!”

“Who cares about that Marinette girl?”

“Nobody! It’s funny you suggested  _ anyone  _ would!”

Just like that, Adrien felt his patience break. He ran out in front of them all, “Shut up!”

“Adrien!” Ladybug hissed in concern, running out after him.

“All of you can shut up!” Adrien continued, not listening to Ladybug, “What has Marinette done for you all?! She’s gotten you tickets to concerts, pastries, outfits, and you just throw her away for a new shiny person!” He pointed at the shocked crowd, “Fuck you all!”

Wow, that was two curse words and counting from the boy.

Adrien directed his rage towards Lila, “And you! I am more than just a boy to hang off you! I have goals and ambitions and  _ feelings _ !”

Lila scowled, “The imposter again?! Guards!” 

The knights placed their helmets on again. One of them rushed towards Adrien who only noticed them at the last second.

“Adrien!” Ladybug shrieked, pushing him out of the way and taking the hit. She grunted, being shoved back a couple meters. 

The knight roared, bending over backwards before exploding in a mess of light. In its place stood two girls, each in pink dresses and heels along with having a strange hairstyle. The fashion designer in Marinette was dying.

One of the girls stuck out her hand, revealing a small mirror on the back of it.

Ladybug looked down to see a mess of black, white, and red light surround her. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain spread through her body. She slumped down to the ground, holding her chest.

“W-What?”

“You’re weak to curse attacks!” Tikki exclaimed.

Gee, that would’ve been great to know earlier.

“Ladybug!” Adrien yelled in shock.

“Kill her!” Lila roared.

Adrien took a shaky breath.

If he hadn’t jumped out, she wouldn’t have gotten hit.

If he had figured Lila out earlier, he could’ve spoken up and she would already be exposed.

…

_ Well, kit, you’re in deep trouble now, huh? _

Adrien gasped, holding his head. “Ow, what?” The model dropped to his knees on the ground, shaking.

He started clawing at his head, hissing at the pain shooting through his head.

_ Maybe you’re right and you should’ve done stuff earlier. _

_ There’s no use dwelling in the past now. _

_ Go on and help your partner. _

“Adrien,” Ladybug whispered, staring helplessly at his pain.

_ I will give you my power. _

_ I am thou, thou art I. _

_ Let destruction take its form and destroy your enemies! _

Adrien looked up, smiling, although tears of pain stayed at the corners of his eyes, “Alright then.”

As he stood up, a black cat mask appeared over the top half of his face. He reached up to it, “Come to me, Plagg!” With those words, Adrien ripped the mask of his face. Blood spurted out of the wound before his body was enveloped by blue flames.

Ladybug gaped at Adrien’s new look. He wore a black leather suit, with a tail made out of a belt. On his belt was a baton. A golden bell hung off his collar. 

A figure that vaguely resembled a cat floated lazily behind him. It had green eyes and three antennae, sorta like Tikki.

Lila gasped, “Another one?”

Adrien walked over to one of the shocked guards, taking their sword and throwing it at the fake version of himself. It impaled his copy against the wall. Without a chance to even gasp, it crumbled into blast mist. Adrien dodged a swing from another guard, making his way back to Ladybug’s slumped body.

“I am more than my reputation,” He growled, “And I’m going to prove it.” He raised the baton, extending it, swinging it around, “Disintegrate them, Plagg!”

The girls hissed at the boy.

“Eiha!” Adrien called out, the same attack that swarmed Marinette surrounding the girl who sent the original attack. 

It knocked the enemy down to the ground with a painful cry. Adrien didn’t wait for the other one to react, also hitting it with an attack.

Ladybug stumbled her way back to standing up, looking at both of the girls.

Plagg floated around, “You two can do a combo attack. Just rush in and hit them with your melee weapons. We call it an All Out Attack.”

Adrien and Ladybug nodded to each other before following Plagg’s instructions. Soon the enemies were reduced to nothing. Adrien’s mask phased back onto his face.

Lila paled, “Retreat!”

Adrien huffed, “Oh no, you don’t!” He raced after them, although he only got a couple centimeters before collapsing.

“Adrien!” Ladybug yelled, dropping to her knees next to him, “Are you okay?”

He looked up, smiling, “I’m fine, let’s keep going.”

She frowned, “You’re too tired. Let’s go home for today.”

“But we didn’t even do anything!”

“You’re more important!” Ladybug argued back, “Besides, it’s not like we have a time limit.”

Adrien pouted, “Fine.” He attempted to stand up before almost falling from exhaustion again.

“Hold up, I got you,” Ladybug said, picking him up in her arms bridal style. Quickly, she ran out of the castle, past the confused cognitions wandering about. 

After one quick trip back to their world, Marinette collapsed, Adrien still in her arms. The boy quickly climbed out, “You okay?”

“I should be asking you that.”

  
  
Adrien stuck his tongue out, “ Touché.”

They stayed there for a moment, breathing heavily.

Adrien smiled, “Well, I’m going to continue going there with you. We’re this far deep, right?”

Marinette grinned back, “Together.”

At that moment, a black cat entered the alley. It trotted over to Adrien, curling up in his lap. He giggled, petting it.

“You got camembert?” The cat muttered.

Adrien squeaked, “What?”

“It’s Plagg. Gimme camembert.”

“Is this gonna happen every time?” Marinette asked.

“Who knows?” Plagg started pawing at Adrien’s chest, “Camembert.”

Adrien sighed, already resigned to his fate, “I’ll order some when I get home.”

“Will you dad let you keep a cat?” Marinette questioned, concerned.

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?”

Later, Adrien texted Marinette that he did in fact get to keep Plagg in the house. So that’s one more win in their book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chat's outfit is literally just his canon one plus a black cat version of Panther's mask
> 
> excuse for not being able to make a good outfit for Chat and just stealing it from canon: Chat Noir is his rebellion in canon, so it's his rebellion outfit here
> 
> Shadows in this chapter: Reflekta


End file.
